Birdwatch: the immigrant species bringing a splash of bright green to Britain

Opinions vary on wild ring-necked parakeets but they have become a defining sight and sound of London's birdlifeA high-pitched screech penetrates the distant hum of traffic, as two impossibly green birds tear across the Hyde Park skyline. Although Londoners have got used to their presence, visitors to the capital are still surprised to see wild parakeets, even though they've been here for more than 50 years.I saw my first ring-necked (aka rose-ringed) parakeets in suburban Shepperton, sometime in the late 1970s. Then we dismissed them as escaped cage birds, like the free-flying budgies we would occasionally come across. Continue reading...